


Love Thy Enemy

by milka121



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Ending, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dubcon/Noncon, Feminization, Foresight Foundation Galo, M/M, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Non-Linear Narrative, OOC, Out of Character, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:53:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23617075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milka121/pseuds/milka121
Summary: Galo loves Lio. Lio loves Galo, too - he just doesn't know it yet.Soon, he will.
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 5
Kudos: 61





	Love Thy Enemy

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to [Latiwings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latiwings/pseuds/Latiwings), who literally went through all this and changed tenses plus corrected my dumb mistakes. Thank you so much!

He looked smaller up close. Galo would never have suspected someone so frail would be the dreaded chief of terrorists but here he  was , sleeping with colorful tubes connected to his flesh, keeping him alive despite how much he struggled.

They need him to live. Kray had said so, and Heris did express interest in examining Fotia too. Alive preferably, and not in the form of an ash pile.

It really was a challenge to get Fotia alive; as rumored, he really fought with everything he got. It was a miracle Galo was able to hold on for so long before luring him into a trap.

It was nothing more than a pet project for Galo, really - it’s not like he had people to spend time with other than his coworkers, and he didn’t like them that much anyway. But give him time and materials and he could build almost anything, including a trap that, theoretically, could freeze any Burnish that activated it, even one as crazy powerful as Fotia. And Galo  was a decent pilot, so luring Fotia in has proved easier than he expected.

Galo was a valuable asset to the Foresight Foundation, Kray liked to remind him. And now even more so with Fotia and his generals captured, not to mention the countless other Burnish they found lurking nearby, ready to transport to the lab. 

Kray had always told him that he had great potential, grand prospects ahead of him, and maybe it was this moment that Galo had been working towards all this time.

Kray seemed pleased, a smile stretching his lips. “Good job, Galo.”

Galo couldn’t help but smile at the proud tone in Kray’s voice. “Thank you, sir.”

Kray turned to Heris, his smile fading immediately. “How long before the subject wakes up?”

“I can engage the process at any moment.” She checked Fotia's vitals on her screen. The long, colorful sinusoids didn’t make much sense to Galo, but it wasHeris here who specialized in keeping the subjects alive and studying them.

_ For the betterment of humanity _ , Galo repeated in his mind.  _ To save everyone. _

Kray had told him the secret before, a few months after Galo had started working officially for the Foundation. The Earth was dying and there was no way to stop it; they could only leave and pray for a better tomorrow. It was hopeless and yet, there was hope if they were ready to make sacrifices.

Nature hated when there was an imbalance, Galo knew that much. If they wanted to gain something, they needed to be ready to let go of other things. 

_ It’s either us or them _ , Kray had said.  _ Either a few Burnish or all of humanity. _

Galo understood. It was unfortunate, tragic even, but inevitable. Fotia was just one of those who have to shoulder the weight of tomorrow, though unwillingly. 

Because someone had to.

Kray nodded. “Good job,” he said again, and Galo almost shuddered at the smile Kray gave him again. Kray’s smiles - his genuine ones, anyway - were a pretty rare occurrence, and every time it hit Galo with a new wave of euphoria. “I’m proud of you.”

Those words were really meant for him, no matter how much they felt like a dream came true, and Galo was sure of that when Kray’s hand rested on his shoulder and squeezed lightly. Galo could feel it so clearly through his white uniform, every point of contact heating up. Galo didn’t like skin contact, not even from Kray, but it was as precious as any shred of attention Kray gave him.

“T-thank you,” Galo blabbered, feeling his face heat up. If Kray’s smiles were rare, then his praise was a one in a lifetime occurrence for most. 

But not for Galo. Kray had always been a constant in an unpredictable world, a person that first noticed the talent Galo had in him. 

_ An uncut diamond _ , he said when Galo was twelve and had brought back more of some apparently very important test results. 

_ You mean I passed? _ Galo asked, and Kray only laughed and ruffled his hair. It was the first time since his parents' death that he felt at ease, wanted, loved.

Now Galo was bigger, stronger, but sometimes he still felt like a child clutching another full mark exam, waiting for Kray to say something about it. The love was still there as was admiration, but Galo was never good at addressing his own feelings, so he just lets them be for now.

The fingers on his shoulder tightened, pushing him back into reality. “Galo.” Kray’s voice hardened and Galo raised his head in attention. “I think that in fact, you should be rewarded.”

Galo blinked. “What?”

“Don’t be so surprised,” Kray said, and he let go of Galo’s shoulder. “You performed admirably. No one has been able to pin them down, and then you do it like it’s nothing. A feat like this does indeed call for a reward.”

Kray walked across the room and hovered over the small man. He looked like a doll - milky, flawless skin, hair almost too perfect to survive all the wringer the man was pulled through and yet, he still looked untouched, spotless sans the tubes on his forearms.

Kray leaned over him and called Galo to him with a small move of his hand. “The Foundation needs to keep Fotia in a good condition,” he said when Galo moved closer. “He is an extraordinarily powerful Burnish, which makes him an excellent subject.” Kray’s fingers traced one of the tubes, a bright red one, and Galo wondered absentmindedly what would happen if it was torn out of Fotia’s body. “However, keeping Fotia in a state of unconsciousness would limit our options.”

“Which means someone has to look over him,” Galo finished. Kray nodded, visibly pleased with how quickly Galo caught on. 

“He needs a warden. Someone to remind him of his position, to give him a punishment if needed, all while keeping in mind the value of keeping him in the best condition possible. I wouldn’t entrust such a task to anyone but a person in which I have absolute trust in.”

Galo could feel his face heating up again. “But, sir… I have never- I mean, my expertise-”

“Galo,” Kray cut him off in a soft voice, but Galo shut his mouth immediately. “When we depart, I will be in need of someone to stand beside me. A right hand, fit for the masses to follow. Someone who I can trust to act independently.” 

“Me?” The words escaped Galo’s throat before he could think of them. “I’m… honoured, but-”

“You will grow into that role.” Kray said it with a smile, but Galo could recognize an order when he heard one. “Tame Fotia, make him obey. Learn and observe. And I will be watching your progress.”

Galo licked his lips, a small protest building in the back of his throat but he killed it off before it could escape. Instead he nodded with a simple, “Yes, sir.”

He looked at the small man, his chest rising and falling in a slow rhythm, steady despite the injuries he had been inflicted with not so long ago. He looked at Heris’s unreadable expression and Kray’s stern one, and wondered what Fotia's will be like.

* * *

His skin is so light it’s almost translucent. It’s the one thing that never changes, no matter how the time passes; that flawless colour, only broken up by the pink of his lips and white of his eyelashes. 

Galo can’t look away.

“You’re so beautiful,” he says, and he can’t stop himself from threading his hand through Lio’s hair. Galo has styled it today, washed and brushed and let it dry as it wanted to. It always resulted in those curls that on anyone else would be unruly, but framing Lio’s face they look somehow cute and dignified at once. 

Lio doesn’t reply. He never does, but that’s okay. Galo knows that he thinks so, too. Can almost see the blush on his cheeks, a snarky remark in the air.

Galo laughs. “It’s true! Really! This dress suits you.” It’s not like there’s a thing in the world that will not suit Lio, but those clothes really bring out Lio’s beauty and make it almost ethereal. As if he will disappear if Galo looks away for even a second. The black frills and ribbons contrast against Lio’s skin and hair, corset wrapping tightly against his waist, long legs in Mary Jane shoes so thin it feels like they can’t belong to a living, breathing human. And yet he’s here, just a little bit cold under Galo’s hands but alive and well.

Lio will thank him someday, he’s sure.

Galo leans in and plants a small kiss on top of Lio’s head. 

“You’re beautiful.”

Lio’s eyes stay big and empty like glass marbles.

* * *

Lio didn’t yell behind the bars. He didn’t trash around, he didn’t try to burn Galo alive, he did not try to haggle. He just glared, brows knit together, and Galo could almost see gears turning in his brain.

It was hard to pin him down. Even harder to actually bait him into a trap and capture, but it was doable with a right amount of luck. And thankfully, Galo was a lucky person.

“I don’t know you,” Fotia said, his voice just so slightly sluggish from all the sedatives forced into his bloodstream. “Why don’t I know you?”

“I’m not that important, really.” Galo grinned, but that only made Fotia scowl harder. He didn’t trust him. Galo understood, but still didn’t like it for some reason. “I just work with Kray.”

“I know most of the scientists here. People talk and they are few that actually  _ do _ something,” Fotia sneered, his eyes still sizing Galo up. Collecting information, Galo realised, even with all those chemicals designed to dumb him down, clouding up his brain. He couldn’thelp but be intrigued by it.

The leader of Mad Burnish was nothing that Galo thought he would be. He didn’t expect Fotia to be so unabashedly confident and clever despite his situation, and he definitely did not expect that eyes, fixated on him with a hard gaze, inferno raging just below the surface. That calm and collected exterior was just a facade, and Galo couldn’t wait to see it break.

“Just who  _ are _ you?” Fotia was hypnotizing, even in his vulnerable state, brilliant mind trying to wrangle free of the restrictions his body dictated. Kray had told Galo all he needed to know - enough to be sure what to do, how to act, what leverage would work best.

Galo smiled. “Galo Thymos. Kray’s protege. Technically an engineer, practically… Well. I think a warden? For now, at least.”

“That explains the outfit,” Fotia murmured, and Galo laughed. So Fotia had noticed that his uniform was hand-picked by Kray, made to resemble the Governor's - an honour no one was allowed to, sans Galo. 

Galo was the first. Galo was the chosen one. Galo was the child saved from the fire to bloom under Foresight’s wings, devoting his whole life to learn and create and invent things no one thought possible. And now, Galo had been given the privilege of looking over the most valuable prisoner there was. The one Kray would have not given to anyone but the person he trusted the most. 

Lio Fotia belonged to him, and Galo would never dream of wasting such a marvelous gift.

“I hope we’ll get along,” Galo said.

Fotia glared at him.

* * *

Galo prepares breakfast for the two of them. Scrambled eggs and toast with coffee for him, and a special shake in a bottle for Lio. They need some time to figure out the perfect method of feeding Lio, but it seems like he still can feel enough hunger to latch onto a silicon and suck. It’s cute, in a way - Lio is like a big baby, and it makes Galo feel warm that he needs Galo to survive. 

_ Love _ , he decides. It’s love, making breakfast for the two of them, morning light falling through the window, dancing on Lio’s hair. It’s longer now, reaching past his shoulders, and Galo has asked Lio if he wants to grow it out. Lio seems to like the idea, and so Galo has more options to choose from, now, about what to do with Lio’s hair. 

He puts the plates on the table and places the bottle in front of Lio. Lio’s eyes flutter down just for a second, but there’s no recognition in them - he reacts more to movement than any actual thing, it seems. He still gets the message when Galo puts the bottle to his mouth, the bud passing between his lips and he sucks on it, slow and careful, his Adam apple bobbing up and down. 

Galo smiles. “Careful, now.” He wipes a stray trace of the shake that drips down Lio’s chin. It’s white, sticky and all too sweet, and Galo can’t stop himself from licking it up from Lio’s face.

Lio’s skin is sweet, too. Smells of soap and milk and the conditioner Galo has chosen for him, smells of  _ Galo _ , a tangible proof that he owns him. That he let himself be owned. 

Galo is proud that Lio has finally become able to admit his desires. He kisses the corner of Lio’s lips and pulls the empty bottle away.

“Good job, sweetie,” he says, and he can almost see Lio’s smile. Lio likes to be praised and called pet names and Galo likes to come up with new ways to make Lio smile, even if Lio never as much as moves a muscle.

That’s okay. That’s all okay. They love each other and that’s all that matters. 

Lio’s mouth is slightly open, with white shake still on his tongue, and something stirs in Galo as he looks at it. Pretty pink lips with just a hint of lipstick, so innocent and yet so lewd.

“You are trying to seduce me again, aren’t you?” Galo smiles, and as he watches, Lio’s tongue moves and he swallows. His mouth falls open again and this time, it’s empty. Lio’s being playful again. Cute in his frills, but still seductive enough to make Galo’s face blush and dick harden.

It’s too much. Lio’s so cute, asking for it.

Galo leans forward and presses his mouth to Lio’s. He pushes his tongue inside with a moan and can taste the sweet shake, or maybe that’s just how Lio normally is. He’s already so cute, Galo wouldn’t be surprised if he indeed tastes like sugar and milk.

Lio doesn’t try to move away, but he doesn’t reciprocate, either. He’s always so shy when they do it, so timid and reserved, and Galo loves him for it.

He gives Lio’s mouth one last lick and moves away. “Let’s go to the bed,” Galo whispers, stroking Lio’s face. He helps Lio get up - always so sloppy and delicate, Lio needs just a bit of Galo’s direction to walk, step after step, heels clicking on the floor. He’s a fast learner, much better than before, and Galo only needs to keep the pressure on his waist to steer and support him, and Lio needs just the barest hint to sink into the bed on his back.

Galo crawls onto him, hovering on his arms and knees, careful not to put pressure on Lio. He looks so delicate, pristine and soft, his skin glowing like porcelain, ready to crack if Galo leans on him. Lio’s ribbon choker is askew just so slightly and somehow that small imperfection sends a chill down Galo’s spine, right to his dick. 

Lio, that prim and proper Lio, under him, about to be turned into a mess. Lio, who loves him, who lets him choose his clothes and put them on as well as undress him. 

Galo sinks lower on Lio’s body and pushes the skirt of his dress up, revealing white legs with even whiter stockings pressing deliciously into the inside of his soft thighs and further, through the delicate garterbelt, to the frilly panties, so tightly hugging Lio’s small dick and perky ass. 

He’s so beautiful, all dressed up and prepped for Galo to gaze at and eat him up. And Lio loves it, too - Galo knows it. He has to with all those small sounds that slip from his tongue when he touches him, sighs and whimpers of need as Galo strokes him through the panties, and then reaches lower, behind the balls.

Lio is soft there, all pliant and loose, and Galo can easily put the thin fabric aside and slip a finger in. It’s easier like this, he explained to Lio before. That makes it easier for them both. Lio is insatiable and so is Galo, so it only makes sense that Lio is always ready, stretched and lubed so that he doesn’t need to wait for Galo. 

And Lio understands. 

Galo pushes in and groans, and Lio moans, too. Galo smiles.

“Feeling good, huh?”

He kisses Lio’s lips, and that’s enough of an answer.

* * *

Galo was tasked with giving Fotia food. Well, he isn’t  _ tasked _ per se, but he decided it was best if he himself brought it to Fotia, positive associations and all. Maybe it would help them grow together, and Galo could later ask Fotia for his favourite food. Carrot and stick was a primitive method but it seemed to work, so Galo might as well try it. 

He walked down the stairs with the tray in his hands and struggled with figuring out how to press his keycard to the reader without tipping the whole thing off, but the system played nice today and Galo was granted access to the lower levels. Most of the Burnish were somewhere in here, but Galo knew exactly where he should go to reach Fotia. Things like that were almost too easy to remember. 

He opened the last set of doors and suddenly wondered if he somehow got lost. 

“Ah, fuck, so tight-”

“Yes! Yes, like this, please,  _ ah! _ ”

He checked the number on the door. No, it was definitely Fotia’s cell. 

He pushed the door open.

Fotia’s pants were pushed down to his ankles. Fotia was down on his hands and knees, hands gripping at the hips of the man on him. His pants were down too, Galo noticed, and he was moving, slap of skin against skin-

And Fotia moaned again, high and full of something that made Galo shudder and the tray slipped out of his hands. 

“Shit!” The man scrambled to his feet, frantically pulling his dick inside his boxers and buttoning up. 

Galo had seen it before. It wasn’t exactly something uncommon for the guards to rape the Burnish, Galo knew. It didn’t harm the Burnish that much physically, and it had almost none of the impact as far as experiments are involved. 

He knew all this, and yet something coiled inside his stomach, something ugly and dark and overwhelming. “Get out.”

The guard didn’t look at him as he stormed out, but Galo caught the long set of numbers on his coat nonetheless. The man would lose his job soon. 

_ Or maybe he would have an unfortunate accident. _

Fotia spat on the floor. “Thanks for ruining my escape plans. I almost had him.”

“Oh.” Suddenly, the awkward bent of Fotia’s arms on the man’s hips made sense. “The keycard.”

“Yeah.” Fotia glared at him with something that could be neutral displeasure. He groaned as he tried to turn over and pull his pants up with his shivering hands. “Oh, and he came inside. Great.”

So he was not raped. He allowed this to happen so that he could get the key and escape out of the room. And he would have succeeded if Galo hadn't chosen this moment to visit. 

Galo thought he was mad before. If he was, then what was this feeling now? That dark, bitter thing rising in his throat.

_ He tried to escape. He would use everything he could to escape. _

Galo stepped over the mess of food on the floor and tugged at Lio’s pants himself. Lio blinked, long and dazed, and then grinned. 

“Oh, you want your turn, Thymos? As expected of Foresight’s pupil. As selfish and primitive as he is.”

Galo ripped Fotia’s shirt open, and Fotia gasped at that. His chest was tiny, with nipples a pretty shade of pink, and Galo could probably wrap his fingers around his ribs and snap them all without even trying. 

It would be fun to see Fotia wince in pain, get that smirk off his face, but Galo was above using brute force. It wouldn’t be seen as favorable from Kray’s side, too.

Lio was pretty, Lio was  _ his _ , and it would be a waste to break him.

“If you’re that bent on stripping, then you don’t need clothes,” Galo heard himself say. 

Fotia just grinned. “Glad to be Governor’s pet’s eye candy.” He spread his legs, hooked them up, and Galo could see the thick, white liquid pouring down his thighs, and something inside him twisted. 

He took the scraps of leather that were Fotia’s clothes and shut the door behind him as loudly as he could. And his pants felt too tight for a long time after that.

* * *

Galo holds Lio’s hips up and gasps as he comes again. There’s a small bump at Lio’s abdomen, and Galo relishes in the thought that he is the one who made it, giving Lio so much love it pools inside of him. 

He kisses Lio’s lips again, slow and sweet, and feels how dry they have become. “You want a break, baby?”

He strokes Lio’s stomach when he lowers him down and pulls out. The cum dribbles out slowly, and Galo almost feels sad to see Lio’s body reject him like this. Maybe he will buy Lio some toy to make him hold the proof of Galo’s love longer, remind Lio of just how much Galo cares about him, wants him.

But for now Lio is thirsty, and Galo is an attentive lover, even if Lio never says what he really wants. “I’ll be right back, sweetie.”

He doesn’t bother to dress back up. No one is going to visit him. The only ones that know where he lives are Heris and Kray, and neither of them would just pop in his small apartment without a word. 

Galo takes his time mixing the baby formula and warm water in the bottle. He checks the temperature himself - he still remembers that one time he didn’t, and neither of them had noticed till Galo saw Lio open his mouth again, so red and full of quickly whitening dead tissue that made Lio whimper whenever Galo has touched it. He was so delicate after that, so susceptible to touch that Galo considers doing it again, but in the end he decides against it. What if Lio gets seriously hurt? What if it can’t be fixed, with his Promare gone? Not worth the risk. 

Galo hums as he shakes the bottle and walks back to the room. "Lio, I brought you-"

Lio is sitting up at the bed, his dress and hair in disarray, but his face is twisted, eyes stuck on Galo.

"Galo Thymos." His voice is strained, harsh, like his throat clamped down so hard it's almost impossible to even breathe. "One day, I will kill you."

Galo smiles. Lio is so silly sometimes.

He helps Lio lay back down and Lio's face softens as his lips latch onto the bottle. And when he finishes, they look like pretty glass again.

* * *

Fotia was transferred the next day. 

Galo was the one to come up with a new programme. It wasn’t that hard to overwrite the one in place, and he needed only to mention his concerns to Kray before he was granted the permission to use the lowest levels of the Foundation. Fotia was the most powerful of Burnish after all, and any person he came in contact with should be hand-picked by the Governor himself.

Fotia swayed on his legs still as he walked into his new cell. The muscles of his back were delicate, but they still rippled every time Galo’s gaze wandered over them. Fotia wasn’t allowed to have his clothes back, and Galo liked to think that the humiliation will make Fotia more humble. 

It didn’t work, unsurprisingly.

Fotia fell to the floor and rolled over. “All this space for myself? You’re too kind, Galo Thymos.” He spread his legs and arms on the concrete. Even like this, he wasn’t even close to touching the walls. He was so small, so thin. 

And yet, Galo knew his true nature. “You will find trying to run off here harder than before. The only people that can open those doors are me, the Governor and doctor Heris.”

Fotia shrugged. “And yet, I’m sure I’ll find a way to get away for all of you bastards.” Another cocky smile. Another small move of his hips, just enough for the thing in Galo’s abdomen to wake up again and slither between his insides.

It should make him angry. It should make him flush with adrenaline and he should want to  _ hurt _ Fotia, kick his exposed stomach and grind his boot into the sensitive flesh until Fotia starts to cough up blood. 

It should, but instead something else flooded his mind, something sweeter, harsher.

Lio was his. Lio was beautiful.

It returned when Heris joined him in the room and gave Fotia another dose. Fotia didn’t struggle, just glared at her, and then widened his eyes when she pushed the surgical bed inside the room. 

Galo was proud of this one. The cuffs were designed to withstand temperatures above stones melting and they were quick to cool down. It was a pain to build, but with enough time and just enough space Kray had given him, he was able to perfect them, and now they clamped down beautifully on Fotia’s legs, arms and neck. 

Fotia didn’t struggle when Heris took his vitals and connected tubes into his forearm. Only when she pulled out her tools did he try to squirm, sparks jumping and dying at his fingertips. 

Red was a pretty color on him, Galo noticed. And even his insides were beautiful, too.

* * *

He dries Lio’s hair with a blower and pulls it up. “See? I knew it would suit you.”

Two buns on the side of Lio’s head. His hair has really grown out, and it’s so soft and nice to play with. Like this, Lio looks even more beautiful. Dark dress with white lace and just the smallest hint of red. Red ribbons in Lio’s hair fit right in, small but bashful enough to stand out just the right amount.

Galo didn’t think he would like helping Lio with dressing up, but he quickly learns just how satisfying it can be. Lio likes his dark leather and spikes, and he didn’t object when Galo suggested mixing it up a little. The results are marvelous as always. 

“Maybe we should take you out sometimes soon,” Galo says, pulling back a stray strand of hair into its proper place. “Get you some fresh air. And maybe some more skirts, I saw one that would be perfect on you on the way back from the groceries.”

Galo can feel Lio’s pulse when he straightens out the collar of the dress. Sometimes he grazes over there, presses on the artery just to check. But Lio is really alive, really here, happy in Galo’s arms, and he’s more perfect than Galo can ever dream of.

“I love you,” he breathes out against the soft skin, and Lio in the mirror almost smiles back.

* * *

“I don’t know if I can do that, Galo.” Heris adjusted her glasses. They were already where they should be but she did it anyway, probably without realising it. She was nervous. She shouldn’t be.

“I mean, it checks out.” He pointed out at the scribbled part of the blueprint, the one he spent the most time on, again and again readjusting, redrawing, perfecting. “It  _ should _ work.”

“But will it?” There was that shifting again. “I… I don’t want to accidentally break our most important test subject.”

“You won’t. And you won’t be doing much anyway, I just need you to check up on him every once in a while and give him some of the stuff I need, here, I have a list-”

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to do, Galo.” Her hands shook, but she still took the papers from him and Galo could see her eyes moving as she skimmed it over. “This-  _ What? _ He can die, Thymos!”

“He is bound to die anyway.” Galo tapped at one of the parts of the blueprint. “But with this, I think there is a chance we can save all those innocent lives. And we can learn more about Promare.”

Heris mouth pressed into a thin line. She was soft and compassionate, too soft, in fact, to be reliably leading a project asking for such sacrifices. That was why Galo was here. That was why he was the one Kray has chosen to look over Fotia, grow to like him, push him to fix what has been broken in the Parnassus project from the start.

It would work. It had to work. Galo knew it would, despite everything, and Fotia will be cured of the curse of Promare, free of fire, and then Galo would be able to make him human again.

“Heris, please.” He let the desperation leak into his voice and Heris shuddered at that.

“This kind of surgery…” She was breaking. Her composure was crumbling, giving in. “It may scar him for life. And his brain…”

“But he will be alive. Safe.” He sighed. “Promare are parasites, Heris, but ones that have incredible power we can use without hurting anyone. And you can save them all.”

Heris licked her lips again.

Galo wanted to scream, but he forced himself to put his hand on her shoulder. “Heris. Have I ever made a faulty machine? Have I ever disappointed Kray with one of my inventions? Trust me, Heris, and we can save everyone.”

She looked him in the eyes, hid behind her hand when she shifted her glasses once again, and then nodded.

“Alright.”

Galo smiled.

* * *

The sky Galo can see from their balcony is different, uncharted and with so much to discover. Lio sits next to him but his head lulls forward, with no strength to look up.

That’s alright, Galo reassures him. Not everyone has to like stars. And Lio is still confused, so it’s only natural he needs some time for himself to think. 

Galo puts a blanket over his shivering form and kisses his cheek. The sun, big and red, will rise up soon and Galo will have to go back to work at making Omega Centauri a better place, fit for all to live in. But until then, it’s only him and Lio, looking up at the stars.

And they are happy.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked, please leave a comment and yell at me at [my twitter! ](https://twitter.com/Milkaa121)


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